Broken
by Suffering Angel
Summary: Nothing was meant to last forever, not even the important things. But maybe they can fix it, together.


Note – this is based on the assumption that much like how Kairi gave Sora the charm that eventually became the Oathkeeper's Keychain – the Keyblade based on her, that Riku was the one who gave Sora the crown necklace, seeing how it's the Keychain for the Oblivion, the Keyblade based on him.

I own nothing.

**_Broken_**

A loud sound filled the room, one of many metallic pieces sliding against each other as they pooled on the wooden table. Blue eyes were cast down shamefully as the boy was able to look at neither the pile of shaped metal, nor the person on the other side of it; least of all at that person. Not seeing what he presented him with. Oh, the nerve he had to come this far with it...

"I-" He began after a long moment, only to feel his throat go dry. How to put this, he wondered; how to even begin explaining something that to him, seemed so terrible? How?

"It broke?" The other spoke first, a slight touch of surprise to his voice as he reached for the pile of sparkling gray. He tried to sound calm and collected, knowing better than to encourage the boy's panic. This mattered, he knew; for that of all things to break...

There were few gifts he received Sora considered as truly important in his life, as even irreplaceable. Things so dear to his heart he'd sooner risk losing life and limb than let them even get scratched.  
Some – he gave back.  
Some – he was ashamed to say he no longer remembered.  
Some – he hoped would last longer than he would.  
A silly, childish wish, he knew as his best friend since birth looked over the broken links in an attempt to find exactly which gave in. All materialistic things met their ends sooner or later, and he knew this item was no different.  
He wore it constantly, endlessly since he received it. He exposed it to changing weather, to salty sea water and dry desert winds. He was constantly running, always moving, giving the worn out material not a moment's rest...

It was only a matter of time before the precious crown necklace finally broke, and Sora knew it was no small miracle it actually lasted that long.

It didn't ease the pain at all now that it came to pass.

"Doesn't look that bad..." The older teen hummed and pushed a stray lock of silver from his face before turning his attention to the crown itself. "It's the chain that broke, not the amulet. It'll be easier to fi-" He stopped short when he realized Sora's lower lip was quivering. Riku blinked for a moment before sighing.

"Oh, c'mon, don't look like that, it's not that bad..."

Sora shifted uneasily. "I, I know. Dad said it could be fixed, but..." He trailed off, making Riku tilt his head and quirk a brow.

"But you came to show it to me instead?"

Sora nodded bashfully and reached to scratch the back of his neck.  
"It felt like I needed to..." He muttered absently and managed to look up for a mere instant before looking away.

"And... that I needed to apologize."

For a long moment, Riku wanted to laugh. Tell Sora he was being silly; tell him he was making a fuss over nothing. Tell him he should've had the thing fixed instead of come over specifically to inform Riku of the 'loss'.  
He managed to open his mouth, only to close it the next instant. He'd have said all that and so much more – but then he remembered who it was he was dealing with and knew it was redundant.  
Sora was, to put it simply, a _sap_. The boy held dearly the most unexpected things, the most mundane things, the most irrelevant things.

It made sense then he cared so much about his necklace, Riku thought and looked down fondly at the metallic crown. He remembered it well, the time when he gave it to Sora. The boy stared at it for a tiny eternity, eyes wide and sparkling and happy. His grin was one to match and Riku remembered grinning back despite himself. He picked Sora a gift the boy liked, and he rarely ever saw him without it since.  
It meant that much to him...

Riku looked back at Sora, a warm smile on his lips. The boy was still looking away, obviously fearing what was to come. Well, Riku did _hate_ to disappoint, but it didn't seem like Sora was expecting him to do what he eventually did.

Blue eyes widened and shot up when Riku's hand rested on his head. Sora could only stare up in shocked awe at the hair-ruffle that followed. Riku sighed back in exhesparation. Really; Sora should've known him better, too...

"Don't apologize." He began warmly. "This sort of thing happens all the time. Things break, even if you care about them. But you know, Sora, if you really care all that much, can you really leave it broken for so long? I'd feel sorry for it."

Both turned to look at the crown Riku was still holding in his other hand, the broken chain hanging off of it on both sides. "If you care - _because_ you care – we have to fix it. And I know we can. Heck, we'll make it better than it was before! How about that?"

It was a reassuring smile Sora was offered, followed by a light tap on his nose.

"So really, stop looking like you're about to cry already."

A gasp tore itself out of Sora's lips and he reached to rub his eyes before pouting up at Riku. "I, I'm not crying!"

"I said 'look like you're about to'." Riku corrected with a grin before holding up the chain. "Now are you going to sulk more, or are we going to fix this?"

A moment of silence passed before Sora looked down, seeming utterly sheepish.

"You're not mad..." He muttered in a rather questioning manner. Riku sighed and shook his head in reply.

"Furious. In fact, I don't think I can forgive you unless you come with me to fix this right now."

Finally yielding, Sora detached himself from the ground and followed Riku out the door. He finally seemed a bit less depressed, but there was still something that bothered him, his best friend knew.  
Riku waited until they were out of the house before reaching to pinch Sora's cheek. "Out with it." He growled.

Sora rubbed his cheek and nibbled on his lip in uncertainty.

"Aren't you going to laugh at me? Say I'm making a big deal out of nothing? Say... say I'm a _sap_?"

It was tempting, and Riku looked guilty for a split second before reaching to ruffle Sora's hair again.

"Nah. I know it means this much to you. It's fuss-worthy."

A tiny smile finally crept to Sora's lips and he crept a bit closer to wrap his arm around Riku's waists.

"So... we're gonna fix it, right? Make it so it'll never break?"

"Well..." Riku began and wrapped his arm around Sora's shoulders. "I doubt we can do that. _But_ – we can always fix it if it breaks again, right?"

Finally, at long last – a genuine, proper, honest-to-god Sora-grin.

"Yeah!"

After all, they were both there again to fix what needed to be fixed, weren't they? What more could he ask for, really...

"...so you really aren't gonna laugh at me?" Sora asked uncertainly, only to have Riku grin down at him.

"Nah, just part of you being such a _sap_."

Well, there _was_ always room for improvement, it seemed...

"I should've left you in the Darkness!"

"Ha! You'll never be rid of me! I'll claw my way back no matter where you are!"

But he figured it was good enough.

Riku really hadn't that much of a clue why Sora suddenly burst laughing like he did, so honestly with so much relief, and yet he found himself unable to care. His arm tightening around the slimmer shoulders, he pulled Sora closer and laughed himself silly too.

That's right, Sora thought as the exchange continued, neither bothering to make too much sense and neither caring.  
Let the whole world fall apart again.

They'll just put it back together – again.

Together.


End file.
